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Justin Liang

Justin Liang specialises in international development, trade, and finance, with specific expertise in the political economy of development in the Asia Pacific region.

Liang earned a bachelor’s degree from Princeton University followed by a master’s degree in International Affairs from The Australian National University, where he was a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar and won the John Dauth Prize in International Relations.

He is currently pursuing dual degrees at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government and MIT. His research explores the implications of Asian countries exposure to macroeconomic shocks for regional financial integration, and how economic interdependence alters countries strategic calculations.

Liang has been studying China for 15 years and has published widely on Chinese political-security affairs, including book chapters on Chinese military power projection, the Sino-US-Japan strategic triangle, and Taiwan-China relations. He has also written extensively on regional cooperation and economic integration in Asia.

“I have spent the past decade honing my skills and expertise in Asia Pacific political, security, and economic affairs in preparation for a career as an agent of positive change in the region,” says Liang.

His “honing” of skills and expertise has included serving as a grassroots volunteer in Micronesia and working as a consultant to both the Asian Development Bank and World Bank on a variety of infrastructure/governance projects in China, Japan, the Philippines, and Oceania.

“These experiences have enabled me to observe firsthand the promises and perils of international development, and the social, political, and material implications such work necessarily entails. They have also reaffirmed my commitment to pursuing a career as a policymaker,” says Liang.

Liang was one of four alumni of the ANU College of Asia and the Pacific to participate in the 2012 Global Emerging Voices program. Collectively they contributed to a dialogue that will help forge forward-looking ties between Europe, Asia and the Pacific with China as a key reference point.

Liang says he was drawn to the Global Emerging Voices Program’s focus on Sino-European relations.

“I believed that my deep grounding in US-East Asian relations would benefit tremendously from the chance to study in Germany, Italy, and Brussels among a cohort of accomplished peers from around the world,” says Liang. “The re-emergence of China is arguably the most critical global development of this century, and will have ramifications positive and negative, near and far, local and global. Preparing individuals to understand and adapt to these shifts is among the most significant challenges ahead. I intend to be among those ready to embrace them, while helping others to do the same.”

Read Justin Liang’s opinion piece on China’s economic fortunes written as a result of his participation in the Global Emerging Voices program.

Justin Liang participated in the 2012 Global Emerging Voices Program thanks to funding from the ANU College of Asia and the Pacific and the Australian Centre for China in the World.